Canadian Wheelchair Fencers Finish with 10 Medals at the IWAS Americas Championship

In the last day of competition at the 2018 IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Americas Championship, Canadian fencers earned three new medals. Sylvie Ruth Morel (Pincourt, QC) took home gold in Women’s Sabre A while Camille Chai (Montreal, QC) took bronze in the same event. Matthieu Hebert added to his medal haul with a bronze medal in Men’s Foil A.

Morel breezed through the competition, earning four wins and undefeated in poules, with no competitor getting past seven points in elimination bouts. She defeated a Brazilian in the quarter-finals 15-7 and an American 15-4 in the semi-finals. She won her final bout against an American 15-3 to take gold. Camille Chai lost to the same American in her semi-final bout 15-13 which gave her the bronze medal to add to her gold medal in Epee A.

Matthieu Hebert (Beauharnois, QC) won his third medal of the Championships, adding a bronze medal to his collection. He had three wins and three losses in poules in Men’s Foil A and defeated Brazilian Oliveira 15-14 in the quarter-finals. He had a hard-fought bout with eventual gold medalist Brancht from the USA in his semi-final with the score very close until the American pulled away at the end for a 15-12 victory.

The Canadian delegation comes away with 10 medals overall, including four gold, showing great promise for the team as it heads into Paralympic Games qualification starting next November. Pierre Mainville is now ranked 5th in the world in Men’s Sabre B, Ryan Rousell is 8th in Men’s Sabre A, Matthieu Hebert is 9th in the world rankings for Men’s Sabre A, Camille Chai is 9th in Epee A and Sylvie Morel is 8th in Sabre A. These IWAS Wheelchair Fencing world rankings show the progress that Canadian fencers are making leading into the Paralympic Games qualification process.

Congratulations to the Saskatchewan Fencing Association for their excellent hosting of the Americas Championship in Saskatoon. The event offered our Canadians an excellent opportunity to compete on home soil.